


Loki's Road Trip, or How I Got the God of Mischief to Chill Out for a Few Days

by jbmae17



Series: Loki and Lyssa [1]
Category: Loki - Fandom, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-27
Updated: 2018-07-27
Packaged: 2019-06-17 01:55:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 18,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15450825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jbmae17/pseuds/jbmae17
Summary: After Thor, right about at the start of The Avengers, Loki tries to find Jane Foster but lands a little off-course. Luckily, he finds Lyssa who agrees to take him across the country. Why? Why not?





	1. Day One

**Author's Note:**

> Posted on Tumblr years ago. Putting it up again.

Tourists. You could always spot them. Either they'd walk in with too much confidence or not enough, knowing they were entering somewhere not on the brightly printed maps from the welcome center. This guy was definitely one of the former, and while not every one of our visitors knew how to dress right for the weather, head to toe black leather, with coat, was never seriously an option that I'd seen yet for August. He had to be a liquid under there. Half a dozen hands casually reached for their belts before he even brandished the scepter.

"What is this place?" he demanded, his eyes taking in every face turned to him. The room remained silent in response. Only the click of the unbalanced blades in the ceiling fan and the steady thump of the ice machine decided to keep on with business as usual.

"Carmen's Cantina," I answered at last, setting down the rubber tub of dirty dishes I had in my hands onto the nearest empty table top. “Can I get you a menu?"

The scepter point pressed against the edge of my t-shirt, right below the name tag. I could hear the sound of metal barrels pulled from leather holsters. 

"I don't think you're going to want to try that again," I said, feeling for my own compact .38 at my hip.

The man tilted his head to the side like a dog before pulling away. In what little late-afternoon light had fought its way inside through the angle of the heavy wooden blinds I could see he had lost some of his confidence. "What you think matters not to me. I am a god, I do not fear you. I am Loki of... Asgard. I am searching for a place called Punto Antiguo in New Mexico. Take me there."

“Who gave you directions? That's nowhere near here.” 

The man turned to the voice. _No, Estelle, don't catch his attention_. I thought these types of folk kept to the big cities. There was nothing they'd need in St. Augustine, Florida. Certainly not when he was looking for a town on the other side of the country. That also meant there were no costumed chevaliers to come to our rescue either. I'd have to think of something, and fast.

"Harry, I told you to stop drinking so much at the Renaissance Fair. These people aren't big on improv." I reached for his free hand, the one not holding the long glowing staff with the pointed blade, and smiled at Hector behind the bar. "You remember my brother's friend Harry, right? Do you mind if I drive him home? My shift's just about done."

Hector didn't believe me, but he had no alternative explanation for what was going on either. “Sure, Lyss. That's probably a good idea. You can get an early start on your vacation.”

“See you all next week, then.” I hoped I was speaking the truth. Scattered voices returned the sentiment. “Harry, you stay here. I'll be right back.”

I hefted the tub back up against my hip and headed to the kitchen. Once away from everyone else, I pressed my hands flat on the cool stainless-steel counter and dropped my head to take in a few deep breaths. What the hell had just happened? Why was I handling this all so calmly? There was no way this wasn't going to be bad news. Did I really need to be the one to rush the ticking bomb away from the city center? I was no hero. Once I walked out that door, there was no guarantee I'd ever walk back in, but this was an older crowd, a group of regulars who liked to spend the heat of the day in the shadows, huddled over rough-hewn dark wooden tables, reliving past glories and slights, and they didn't deserve to have something tragic happen because this guy didn't have a GPS.

I poured my tips out of my apron pocket and threw it in the laundry bin, took my bag from its cubby on the wall and set my shoulders back to return confidently into the main room.

“All set?” The colorful grim reaper followed me out into the parking lot without a reply. The heat of the day slapped me in the face like a screen door with too tight a spring. My lungs did not want to breathe in the heavy air. “This is me,” I said, stopping in front of the little red sedan Dad had passed down to me. “You can lay your scythe on the back seat or we can throw it in the trunk.”

“The scepter stays with me,” he answered. “I accept neither of these choices.”

“You'll be a foot away from it. I don't have the headroom for you to be holding it on the drive, plus I don't think you want us to get pulled over by the cops.”

“Cops?”

“Police. Authorities. Gendarmes. The law.”

“I see.” He opened the rear door, placed down his scepter, then seated himself in the passenger seat. “This is correct?” he asked as I settled in and started the engine. 

I could see it burning him to ask me for approval. “Yes. Please put on the belt and we can go.” I pulled mine from its resting place. “Just follow along like me.”

Once safety had been assured, I rolled down my windows, eager to get the trapped stale air out.

“Why did you call me Harry in there? Did I not proclaim myself to be Loki?”

“I had to think of something to calm the crowd. If I acted like I knew you, they wouldn't see you as a threat. One look and you reminded me of Harry the Dirty Dog. It's um, a book for children.”

I smiled to let him know it was all good. He did not smile back.

“A dog? I am a prince, no, a king and you call me dog?”

“People like dogs a lot more than they like kings. It worked, didn't it.”

Loki said nothing and turned his head to stare outside.

The trip home was brief. We crossed the bridge and cruised down A1A past the Alligator Farm and the St Augustine Amphitheater. At the light after the third cluster of strip mall shops, I turned left and before long I had us pulled into the driveway.

“This can't be New Mexico,” said my navigator as he noted my poorly weeded front yard.

“No, it's not,” I answered. “This is where I live.”

“That is not what I commanded.”

“Well, your commands and a quarter can get you a gumball out of a machine and that would be a better use of your mouth than telling me what to do.” It was a risky statement to make, but he had to know he was not going to intimidate me.

“I could kill you, I could crush you, if this is some sort of trick.” His face was stern, but it was also pale. Dark circles were shadowing under his eyes. I wondered when was the last time he had any rest.

“I work in a bar full old high-school athletes and motorcycle enthusiasts and I babysit the teenagers from hell. Do you really think I'm afraid of you? You kill or crush anyone, and I'll find a way to take you out as well.”

“You? I have survived many onslaughts. I have laughed off blows from Mjolnir, the mighty hammer of Thor. What could you do to me?” If that smile could just reach his eyes, he'd almost be charming.

“Well, I've got a hammer too and it hits the primer on my bullet and we'll see how god-like you are then. I can take you to New Mexico, but not today. If we head out in the morning, from what I remember, it's going to take about three or four long days of driving. I already had this time marked for vacation. Dad's off on a trip to Orlando with his girlfriend and her kids, so I thought I'd enjoy the silence. I hadn't planned on going further than Savannah, but it's been a while since I headed west. I can drop you off, spend a couple of days with my cousin in Tucson and then head back. Everybody wins. Unless you're planning on global destruction and then it won't really matter what I have planned next.”

“Not this week,” he answered and I believed him.

“Let's go inside where it's cooler. We can go over details all you like.”

He followed me inside, a tall dark shadow in my tiny sunlit home. I didn't need to look into his face to know he disapproved of it all- the colorful prints on the walls, the pile of shoes by the door, the souvenirs and knickknacks on the shelves, the photos stuck to the refrigerator doors.

“I don't know when the last time you ate was, but there's leftovers in the fridge and water and whatever else. Go ahead. I'd suggest you take a shower.” I paused, thinking that through. Not the shower part, not for long, the afterward. “No wait, I don't have anything for you to change into. Hold off on that. Have something to eat. Sit down. I'm going to run to the store. I'll be right back.”

Loki held my arm tightly. “You're going to leave me here alone in this little cell and this is not a trap?”

“Hey, this place has two bedrooms and a pool. This is the nicest cell you'd ever have. I am not having you sweat in your leather all over my car seats for three days. I am going to pick you up something so you can be comfortable and not stand out like you're headed to a bondage convention. If you don't like the way I do things then you should have poked someone else. There's nothing here worth stealing so just sit tight and I will be back within an hour, ok?”

I had hoped the hum and tug in the back of my head would diminish when I had gained some distance between myself and Loki, but instead it grew stronger. I wasn't going to be able to shake off the whammy the scepter had given me as easily as I had thought. Clouds were rolling in and fat drops of rain hit me as I raced inside the store from the parking lot. I gave myself no time to stop and enjoy the scent of wet warm pavement. I didn't want to run into anyone I knew while on this errand.

My cart was full of food and clothes and the cashier at the end of the checkout line was no one I'd seen before, so I felt good that I had accomplished my mission. We'd be out of town before full sunrise and no one outside of Carmen's would have to know about any of it.

The woman in front of me had just tucked away her change when the cashier departed and Cindy appeared. We had gone to school together and while we weren't friends, we knew enough of the same people that she thought she could talk to me like we were.

“Hey there, Alyssa! Looks like you've got a pretty dull Friday night ahead of you,” she said as she scanned my items and bagged them. “No alcohol? No movies? No condoms? And you're buying clothes for your brother again?”

Once she read the size tags, she'd realize that wasn't true. My brother was tall and thick like every guy in my family, men made for high school football and not much else.

“Actually, those are for charity. I signed up at the church and they gave me a list of things. It's good to give back, you know.”

“You're so right. I always say it's the best thing you can do.” Cindy had never darkened the door of a sanctuary in her life, so my story should hold. I paid and threw the bags into the cart.

“Well, I'll see you around then.”

“Great!”

Loki was still where I left him. Well, not quite. He had moved from the window, and the scepter was clutched tight in his hand as he kept tight to the wall.

“Did something happen?” I asked. Everything looked the same to me.

“There was thunder.”

I couldn't hold back my laughter. “Really? Mister Badass is afraid of thunder? You picked the wrong place to land then. It happens every day.”

His posture relaxed some. “This isn't unusual?”

“You're the only unusual we've got going on right now. I'd be more surprised if there wasn't thunder. It's gone now. The sky was clear when I drove back. Everything is fine.”

I handed him one of the bags. “Why don't you go take a shower and change. I'll find some pillows. You should be able to fit on the couch. My brother's slept on it before and he's taller than you.”

_This is all perfectly normal_. I was going to repeat that, no matter what, and I would convince myself that I was the one who was certain and not that other force taking up space in the back of my head. I took out the nicer pillows from the linen closet, not the lumpy ones I let my future step-siblings drool on when they were dropped off at my place, and a thin blanket. I placed them on the coffee table and stared out at the flat surface of the pool. A moonlit swim had been the one thing I had been looking forward to all day. Now I had no energy to change and float along under the stars and wonder which one Loki had fallen from.

The pipes creaked and the fall of water stopped. Before long, Loki padded out, his hair dripping slightly on the tile floor. “This was all you had in the bag. It doesn't seem sufficient for the journey.”

“Oh, that was just for tonight,” I answered. “I've got some other things for you. I was going to pack them up before I went to bed. We've got snacks and the car's full of gas, so we can get right on the road first thing in the morning. You get some rest. If you need me, I'm just down the hall.”

“Why are we not leaving now? The roads are not barred at dark.” He said this with conviction but his eyes gave away that he wasn't sure.

“Because I've been on my feet for the last twelve hours.” I sat down on the couch. “If you need to get there faster, you can find another way.”

“I don't understand you,” Loki said, looking a lot less fearsome in a navy blue t-shirt and plaid cotton pajama pants.

“I have a feeling we're both going to end up saying that a lot by the end of this.”

He knelt before me and leaned in close, held my head by the jaw and peered into my eyes. “Why aren't you obeying me without question? The scepter opens the hearts of those it touches and helps them see their greater purpose. Usually that greater purpose is to do as I wish.”

“Ahh, there's your problem,” I answered, pulling his hand off my cheek. “I don't have a heart. That bitch has been stomped into the ground so much it's dust. There aren't any pieces big enough to glue it back together, much less open it up. My greater purpose shall remain a mystery.”

“Then why are you helping me?” There was no bravado now. He was truly curious. Luckily I had some semblance of an answer.

“The best way I can put it is this- when you look into the abyss, the abyss also looks back into you. Nietzsche, right? Windows show you both sides. You tried to get into me, but that meant I saw you too and all those writhing snakes of hurt and determination you've got in there. You're stuck in my head like a song now. I know you need help more than anything and I'm going to give it to you, but on my terms, and that means not until morning, so sleep well.”

*-*-*


	2. Day Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The trip begins.

**Day Two, Saint Augustine to New Orleans (8.5hrs):**

The couch was empty when I finally padded into the living room. The blanket was puddled on the floor, the pillows crushed and hanging off the edge of the armrest. A warm steady flow of air came from the sliding glass door left open in the kitchen. I could only assume the back gate was open as well. There was a possibility Loki had left for good, but the tenant still in my headspace told me otherwise. The insistent buzz wasn't as loud as it had been when I had run my errands last night but it had been enough to wake me up twenty minutes before the alarm was set to go off. If it got much worse, I suppose I could get into the car and start scanning the streets slowly like my dog had gotten loose, but I'd give it some time.

When I had checked on him late in the night, he had been sleeping very soundly. The couch was long but it was narrow and he had stretched himself over all of it. In the calm of sleep, Loki certainly didn't look like the conqueror of worlds. I rearranged the sheet over him and crossed the room to slip out for my delayed swim. I had spent hours checking the route and hitting a few conspiracy-minded sites people had sent me over the last months that I had never bothered to click on until now. I hadn't needed them to know that there wasn't much left of the town of Puente Antiguo. That had been on the news, though the official reasons why had been vague at best. Now I was reading message boards I never would have given any credence to, and the descriptions and the words they used matched the flashes I had caught in my scepter-assisted mind-meld. There were even more links to the residents of Asgard and their connections to ancient mythology. I felt I knew a little more about my houseguest and none of it was comforting. I was most likely aiding and abetting a criminal. He wasn't traveling to sightsee and for all my big talk of taking him down, the legends spoke of him as a master of magic. What could I do to stop him if he was determined?

Of course, he returned after I had done everything and packed the car. Strolling into the garage in his jeans and boots with his hair slicked back, he looked like that friend of your older brother who started to show up once your brother started a band, but soon it was clear he was better than your brother, which made your brother quit, and then there were no more Wednesday afternoon practice sessions where you could sit on the chest freezer and watch, and wonder if he knew you were there just for him. But maybe that was me.

“So where'd you sneak off to?” I asked.

“I did not sneak anywhere. I wished to see the ocean at sunrise. Before the sun was too high, it was almost like Asgard, but then the light hit the debris on the sand and the rows of molding houses and the rusting transport, so I returned. Are we leaving now or is there another excuse?”

There was the imperiousness already, so early in the morning. “No excuses. If you're ready, I'm ready.”

I locked up the house and soon we were backed out of the drive and on our way.

“I still find it difficult to believe people willingly live here,” he said as we drove through town on our way to the highway.

“Not only do people live here,” I answered. “Other people from all over the world come and pretend to live here for short stretches of time. It's called vacation.”

“So they're meant to appreciate what they have by coming to a place like this?”

“Not quite. This is supposed to be the ideal- sunshine and water and freedom from the tediousness and responsibilities of home. People need to escape, some longer than others.”

“They purposely walk away from the choices they've made? They want to avoid the life they've chosen?”

“Yes, for a little while. I don't know how things work where you're from, but regular life is pretty soul-crushing.”

“So, even with their free will, they submit to having their souls crushed?”

The curiously interested tone of his voice made me uneasy in continuing this line of conversation. “It's not easy to make a dollar, even harder to do so while doing what you love, so people make compromises.”

“Would it be easier if freedom wasn't involved?”

“I don't see how.”

“Hope is a siren, luring people to dash themselves upon the rocks in the expectation of something better that isn't there. Wouldn't it be better to know where you are is all there is?”

“I think the Russians tried that once,” I answered. “It didn't work out.”

“They enslaved the world?”

“Nah, just eastern Europe. People did all they could to escape. I'd go into it more, but I'd just be showing my ignorance.”

“How would that be any different than all other times you speak?” he asked with no hint of humor.

“I guess it wouldn't be.”

“What if there was nowhere to escape?”

“Then I guess you'd have their attention.” I turned on the radio and began to hit the preset buttons. Nothing was soothing my soul. We weren't even half an hour into this, and already I wanted to turn around and curl up in bed. 

Loki reached for the volume control. “This is noise. Cease it.”

I swatted his hand, harder than I should have. “My car. I'm driving. I control the radio. If you don't like it, that's too bad.” I dared to glance over at him. He wasn't happy, but when was he ever? I expected another volley of insults but he kept silent. 

We passed through Jacksonville and transitioned from 95 to I-10, our asphalt home for the next three days. Loki said nothing as I tried to play tour guide. He couldn't have cared less that Jacksonville was the largest incorporated city in the country and was named for the seventh president. He yawned through my hazy half-remembered history of the Seminole Indians.

It began to rain, and there he came to life. He eyed the sky anxiously though there was no thunder so far, only slow drops of rain speckling the windshield before being swept away.

“Do me a favor?” I asked. Loki remained stone-faced in response. “Could you please reach in the back and grab that red bag and open it? If I could do it and keep the car moving forward, I would do it myself.” I had learned that any request was going to be automatically rejected unless I added in some deference.

With a sigh, he twisted and returned with the package.

“Could you hand me a couple?”

“What are these things? Do you need them to make a repair?”

“They're Twizzlers. I know they don't look or smell or taste like food, but they're a road-trip tradition. Have one.” I let one hang out of the side of my mouth. 

“I have no interest in ingesting red rubber,” he said.

“Do as you like,” I replied. “Let me know if you're going to need the rest stop. They're pretty fancy on this stretch of road.”

“Why would I need to rest? I've done nothing but sit here and feel my mind wither as I stare at these vast expanses of nothing.”

How was I going to put this? “They're not for resting. That's not true; it's a place for you to get out of the car and stretch your legs and, well, relieve yourself.”

At last there was interest in his expression. “Oh really? Your people have finally embraced debauchery instead of hiding behind that puritanical facade? If that is the purpose, stop at the next one.”

My feet sank a little deeper into the hole I had dug. “I wish I could tell you that's not what they're used for as well, but that would be a lie. I didn't want to say it directly, but all I was asking is- if you need to piss, let me know.”

I could feel his disappointment. “You were right. You shouldn't have said it, but you don't seem to have any tact so I am surprised you were hesitant to ask.”

What was the best response? _Thank you? Sorry? Fuck you?_ “Fuck you, Loki.”

“So you would prefer me to use you instead? I assumed as much. Whenever you choose to stop, I will be ready.”

I had read the myths. I didn't doubt it. “That is not what I meant. If I do stop, that will not be the reason.”

“Are you certain?”

I heard the undeniable sound of a thick metal zipper unlocking and my peripheral vision caught movement of pale hands in the passenger seat. My eyes were fixed on the road before me and my fingers gripped the steering wheel tight. And I thought him sweating in his leather was going to be my biggest problem. The interior of the car seemed to be bordering on claustrophobic. 

“Do you really have to do that right now?”

The wordless heavy breathing I received in response was enough of an answer and the heavy bass of the song on the radio was not helping. Who played that kind of music in the morning? But if I reached out my hand to change the station, I was certain it would be intercepted and then... 

“See, there are several other travelers off the road, their windows clouded by fog. Any one of them could be indulging their desires. Cease our progress and assist me.”

The rain was heavy enough that more inexperienced drivers had surrendered and parked on the shoulder. It wouldn't look unusual if we found a similar patch of gravel. No real time would be lost. Heck, with the crossover into another time zone, we'd still be ahead of schedule.

I kept my foot on the gas pedal and the wheels straight in the lane. “No. I'm pretty sure that's a class three misdemeanor if the highway patrol were to come by. I offered to give you a ride, not to, well... give you a ride.”

“I'd return the favor,” he said, and there was an extra layer of smoke in his voice, sweet and tantalizing like aural incense. I hadn't moved but I could feel my hips twisted in my seat, the parking brake pressing against my ribs, a hand in my hair. The steady hum in my head was now a whisper, an invitation to give in.

“Get out of my mind! That's not funny. I need to focus on the road. If we crash and you're found all undone like that, you're not going to have any credibility as a fearsome menace.”

He laughed long and honestly. “Your face was so red! If just the thought could make you blush that much, I am intrigued.”

“Have you put yourself away? Let's find another way to occupy your time. Read a book to me. There are some in that green bag, right behind my seat.”

He lifted one out and surveyed the cover. “ _The Vampire Princess' Lover_? This is what you want me to read? That will cool your blood?”

“Yes.” Damn it, why hadn't I packed a biography or something classic, or at least classy? No, I had to pull a couple of old library-reject beach paperbacks off the stack and throw them in the bag in my rush to get out the door.

“I refuse,” he said, dropping the book by his feet. “This sounds absurd. I am a king, not a waiting woman here to amuse you. You serve me.”

“The way I see it, I'm not getting paid back for this, so I am making a small request of you.”

“Once I have conquered this world, you can have any corner of it you wish. Is that not enough? I feel it is more than generous.”

“Is that the trick? There are no corners, it's round. I read _The Monkey's Paw_ , I know if you wish for something, you have to be very clear and even then, it's a totally fucked-up version of what you wanted. Now start reading. Please, my liege?”

“Very well.” I knew bald flattery would work. He reached down for the book and turned back the first few pages. “Elise, the vampire princess, had resisted the advances of Valin for a millennium, but he was sure by now her opposition was weakening. This is doing nothing to convince me your planet needs to be spared.”

“I didn't ask for a commentary track.”

Still he narrated four chapters.

We were nearing Alabama and the rain was ceasing before he closed the book. “No more.”

“Fine. I'm going to play some music. This car is the height of technology, for 1995. I have a cassette player and a ten-disc cd changer in the trunk. No need to play radio roulette.”

“You know these words mean nothing to me.”

“Tell me what you do know. Tell me about where you're from.”

Stealing a glance over, I tried to smile encouragingly. It would be good to hear firsthand what had made him what he was.

“I come from a place of lies and betrayal, of misplaced love and unfair advantage. I was left for dead when all I wanted was to rule what had been given to me, what I rightfully deserved.”

“So not too different from here then? If the people suck, at least tell me what it looked like.”

“Asgard is the jewel of the nine realms. It looks out upon the cosmos and evokes envy in all who know of it. There is none of the... clutter and decay you have here. The waters run clear, the mountains stand tall, the edifices proud and shining. To rule such a place is what I was born for. This planet is but an anthill compared to the glory of Asgard.”

“I bet you can't wait to get back then.”

“Now that the Bifröst is destroyed, it is not as easy to enter. Great amounts of dark magic would be necessary to travel the distance.”

“So magic is a real thing? And you can do that?”

“Yes, of course. I am a master of magic,” he answered, and there was a genuine smile and tone of pride in his voice. “I have perfected my skills over thousands of years.”

“If you have the power, how did you end up here and not directly in Puente Antiguo? Why did you need the help of someone like me when you're such a magical badass?”

He didn't like the implication that he didn't know what he was doing. His voice was degrees colder. “I directed myself to somewhere very old in this country and I knew I could use the scepter to gain assistance where needed. There are... cops? looking out for me in New Mexico. I needed time to set my plan in motion without drawing attention to myself.”

“Yes, because walking into a dive bar, announcing where you're headed and brainwashing the help is so subtle. Just what are you after in New Mexico?” What did I know about New Mexico? Roswell? Nuclear testing? Pueblos? 

“Something my brother left behind.”

We were through the tabs of Alabama and Mississippi in no time and into the final state of the day's trip by early afternoon. There were opportunities to stop but I kept the car in motion, thankful for its pre-environmental-awareness-sized gas tank. Once we reached our destination, I could collapse and sleep and have something to eat that wasn't sealed in a cellophane wrapper, but for now I just watched the lines on the road pass beside us while Loki slept. His head bent back uncomfortably and his low, pleasant voice translated into less sonorous tones as he snored.

He didn't wake up until I knocked on the window in the hotel parking lot. His head pulled away from the glass quickly and he looked at me with danger in his eyes. 

“We're here.”

Loki took in the Garden District location, the charmingly worn bricks, the pricey vehicles alongside us. I drank in his confusion. He could tinker in my mind all he wanted, but he didn't know me. “This is where we're spending the night?” he asked once he unfolded himself from the car. 

“I love sleeping, but I am the princess and the pea. If there is one thing off, I can't rest, so I spend the money on fancy places when I travel.”

“Clearly you don't indulge in other luxuries,” he said, taking in my car and my clothes in one raking sweep.

I walked away and popped open the trunk. “You can carry the bags, then. I've already checked in and gotten the keys. We're in Room 112.”

My alien bellhop followed me up the thin green-painted metal stairs to a walkway leading to our room. It was small but charming with an exposed brick wall and the scent of lavender in the air. The walls were a worn white but the tightly tucked bedspreads were bleached to gleaming. I sat down on the edge of one and kicked off my shoes.

“Two beds?” asked Loki as he dropped the bags to the floor and closed the door. Of course, that would be what he noticed.

“Damn straight,” I answered with a yawn. “I have my space and you have yours, and that goes for my head, too. No more of that. Take one of the keys. You can go out and prowl all you like, but no one comes back here, got it? I am going to take a nap and then see what trouble finds me, besides you.”

I fell back on top of the bed and tucked a pillow under my neck. That was all there was until I woke up without the sun streaming through the lace curtains. I stretched from my neck to my toes and was fully aware soon after of a weight around my middle and breath warm on my shoulder. I turned under his arm to face Loki. The buzz in my head was almost gone, the sound now of a radio in another room. In the dim light, I would have bet money that I saw a smile.

“I'm pretty sure I said something about keeping to your own space,” I whispered.

“I did not want to be alone,” he answered, eyes still closed, face still relaxed. 

This was a confession not meant for my, or anyone's, ears. The best option for how to deal with this was to reset the scene. I stretched again and elbowed him in the chest and kicked at his shins. “What's the big idea here? The women of New Orleans not up for being insulted by an arrogant asshole?”

Now his eyes opened and the tension was back in his expression. “I could have any woman in this swamp.” His hand slid from my ribcage down past my hip along my thigh. “But here I am with you.”

“Just what a girl wants to hear, that the man in her bed is proudly indiscriminate.”

That caused him to pull his arm away and there I made my escape. “I am going to take a shower, and that is a declaratory sentence and in no way, shape or form, an invitation. Now if you want to go out with me afterward and get something to eat, you can.”

I picked up my bag and walked into the bathroom, locking the door behind me. Turning the water on as cold as I dared, I made myself hope he'd find a way to search out the city on his own after all.

When I had stalled sufficiently, I opened the door again, dressed and ready to go. I found Loki waiting, standing by the door in a black button-down, tighter than I thought it would be, and black trousers. He looked like a European ninja playboy. I knew I picked out the clothes, and I had to congratulate myself for being on with the sizes. He looked good. Every woman would be falling all over him. I ignored the jab in my ribs as that thought passed through my mind.

The busboy at the restaurant around the corner from the hotel seemed like my kind of guy, so after dinner I asked him for a recommendation for a place to get a drink away from the tourists and bachelorette parties sure to flood the French Quarter on a Saturday night. Following his directions, we stepped off the streetcar and found the kind of place I was hoping for, lettering worn on the sign, windows tinted dark, the customers looking suspiciously at us as we entered. 

I took a seat at the bar and let Loki survey the land close-up. The clientele was a regular group, judging by their comfort within the surroundings, but skewed much younger than the crew at Carmen's. There were already half a dozen women around Loki like a maypole by the time I ordered my drink and turned around to look for him.

“Ok, one gin and tonic. Now that we've got your dad's order out of the way, what are you going to have?”

The guy in the seat next to me was pleased with his line. He was cute though, so I let it slide. I had a weakness for men in suits since I didn't meet many of them. His was cut well, close to his body, and his tie was chosen to highlight his green eyes.

“You seem to be mistaking me for some margarita sipping, whipped cream vodka swilling co-ed. I am a lady, and if I want a gin and tonic, that's what I'm having.”

“Of course,” he said quickly, not subtle about running his eyes over my short red dress. “In apology, I will gladly pay for your drink.”

“Lyssa,” I said, and held out my hand.

“Michael,” he answered. “Please tell me you live around here.”

“Only for tonight. I'm afraid I'm just passing through.”

“Just my luck.” His disappointed face was charming. “Where are you headed and is there any chance you'd be stopping here again on your way back?”

“No need to think about next time already. Let's make sure this night is worth repeating first.” I took a sip of my drink. The bartender had used crap gin and the tonic was a breath away from flat. 

“Do you have any suggestions on how we do that?” He leaned in, and I paused my automatic pick-up game. There was a half-empty bottle of beer in front of him on the bar but none on his breath.

Loki strode up to us and stopped a step in front of me. I had forgotten about him, but the feeling wasn't mutual. There was a cold light in his eyes I hadn't seen since we first met and he tried to sublet my soul. I waited for the words to come tumbling out of him, but all he said was, “No.”

A reasoned argument could have persuaded me, an impassioned speech might have moved me. A simple denial pressed my rebellion button and I turned away. “Fuck off, Harry.” 

“You know this guy?” asked Michael.

I took another drink. “Nobody knows this guy.”

“If you're with him...”

“She is mine,” said Loki, and I felt his hand on my shoulder before it was swept away by Michael who tried to stand between us.

“If the lady doesn't want to see you, I think you need to back off.”

Loki stepped away with his hands up, but then there was a gasp from the other side of the room and I looked in time to see another Loki appear behind Michael, turn him around and punch him solidly in the jaw. The first disappeared and there was only Loki, grinning like a madman at the crowd.

Twenty people were staring open-mouthed. I swept my purse off the bar and made my way to the door without looking back. I could feel Loki follow close behind but I could not look at him. I kept silent as we caught the St. Charles Avenue streetcar and then walked back to the room. 

Once the door closed behind us, however, I turned around and raised my hand to strike the sculpted hollow between his cheekbone and jaw. “So, it's ok for you and not for me? You had to risk having your cover blown just to make sure I couldn't have a pleasant couple of hours before I'm back on the road carting your ass around North America! I'm risking myself to help you out and this is how you treat me?”

Loki caught my hand and kept it straight and still. He spoke calmly. “I can't have you distracted and unable to drive tomorrow. I read the map while you were asleep, we are not even halfway. Women gain sentimental attachments easily. I could see you liked him and I could not risk you being unwilling to leave in the morning. All the people in there were too inebriated to know what they saw. Nothing will come of it.”

Any sentimental attachment I had to him evaporated in the heat of my anger. “If you don't like what I do, you can catch the next Greyhound out in the morning.” _Or you could just go straight to Hell._

His puzzled expression did nothing to lighten my mood. “How would that help?”

“It's not worth explaining. I'm going to bed. Keep to yours or you'll regret it.”

*-*-*


	3. Day Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lots of stuff happens.

**Day Three, New Orleans, LA to San Antonio, TX (8hrs):**

 

I was being kissed. 

No, that's not quite honest, because I was kissing back. I was no passive innocent. My hands were roaming about just as much as his. Cold, cold skin, slick like melting ice, was crushing against me so hard I could feel the coiled springs of the mattress bite under my back, but instead of pulling away from the burn, I wanted more. “Please,” I whimpered as I stared into bright green eyes. 

Then my mind clicked from half-asleep to fully awake and my breath caught and my eyes opened and I was alone. Looking over, I saw dark hair spread across the pillows on the other bed, and a foot sticking out of tangled covers. There had been more than one of Loki in the bar last night, but no one else was in the room now. The pale morning sun that had lit the scene I had just left had yet to find its way through the window. It had to have been a dream. It had to. I waited for my heartbeat to slow, wiped the sweat from my forehead, demurely slid my legs together, and cursed my subconscious until my conscious flashed a thought across the back of my eyelids- _What if it wasn't a dream, but rather a premonition?_

Was every part of my body colluding against me?

The large red LED numbers on the clock indicated it was barely five in the morning, but I could tell there was no way I was going back to sleep. Turning on the TV, or even just the light, would probably wake up Loki, and being too early to hit the road just yet, there we would be in this small private space with nowhere else to go. I stretched and threw the covers aside. It would be so easy to take two steps and slip in beside him. Would it be worth it to see if he would wake with a smile on his lips instead of a hand to my throat? Loki was a striking man, and being complete Napoleonic assholes hadn't kept other men out of my bed, but I just couldn't let him win, no matter how much I wanted him. If there was any way I could get him to see me as an equal, then maybe, but not before.

As quietly as possible, I left my bed and started to head into the bathroom to dress, but I changed my mind. Loki hadn't moved since I woke and there was still the steady white noise in my head that I felt when he was unconscious. I wasn't going to twist and contort in the tiny space to save myself any embarrassment. Maybe it would relieve some of my tension to put on a little show he'd never see. 

Facing the back of his head, I imagined a song in my head as slowly I untied the drawstring from my pajama shorts and shook them to the floor with a little shimmy. I lifted my t-shirt by its hem and pulled it over my head, twisting my hips in lazy figure eights. Turning away from the sleeping figure in the bed, I rustled through my bag for something new to wear. At the top was a simple cotton shirtdress- one step and dressed and not too heavy. 

_And very quick to hike up in the heat of the moment._

Shut up, voice in my head. 

I kept digging to prove to myself I had other options, and found a bra I didn't realize I had packed, an emerald green lacy front-closure that would make that dress fall even better. 

_It'll fall right to the floor once Loki grins at you._

I am not listening. This isn't exactly a private line. Keep this up and Loki will surely find a way to sense it.

Still, I fastened it on before maneuvering my arms and head through the dress and smoothing it down. A perfectly acceptable outfit, I assured myself as I packed up my bag. Loki hadn't moved except for the rise and fall of his breathing. Picking up the copy of _The Vampire Princess' Lover_ from the top of my other bag, I slipped out the door and walked down to the lobby where I curled up in a fat leather armchair until the flurry of activity outside the window made it certain breakfast was served. I considered going back to the room, but on the chance my wild flights of fancy were due to low blood sugar, it would be best to eat first.

Steadily, the tables filled and the line grew longer around the edge of the courtyard as the guests found their way out of their rooms, lured by the scent of coffee and freshly baked bread. I wondered how many of these people would be affected forever if I kept on this path. How many would look back and say, _That was my last good day_? I could fool myself and say if it hadn't been me, Loki would have found someone else to control, but the truth was it was me and I wasn't circling about, taking the scenic route, or heading straight to the closest prison, I was driving directly and efficiently toward whatever he thought he needed to ensure the capture of the entire planet. I was an accomplice and whatever happened next would fall on me as well. 

When I saw forks pause mid-air and eyes turn to the stairs behind me, I knew Loki had arrived. He pulled a chair out from the table, roughly scraping the metal feet against the concrete, and stared across at me. “Where have you been?”

“Here,” I answered, smiling and lifting my glass.

“Since before sunrise?”

Damn, I hadn't been slick enough. Stupid brain tether. “I couldn't sleep. I didn't want to disturb you, so I thought I'd better leave.” I pointed to the book as evidence. “I was only reading. Valin's just set a trap for the princess so she can't leave his palace. It's getting good.” The look of disappointment on his face almost made me laugh out loud. Was he mad that I had read on ahead? “When you go get something to eat, pick me up a spoon, too? I dropped mine on the ground.”

Loki stood up with a grunt. “Again, it is too much to expect manners from you.”

“Please,” I answered automatically, looking into his eyes. Oh that twinkle, paired with a triumphant, arrogant smile, his laughter loud and heartfelt. That scene this morning hadn't been my imagination- he was an accessory after all. I blushed and jumped up from my seat. “Never mind, I'll get it myself.”

When I returned, two people were hovering anxiously by the table while Loki did his best to ignore them. The woman did not turn, her gaze remained fixed on my companion, much like others in the courtyard. The man stuck his hand out so quick and sudden it almost jabbed me in the chest. 

“Hello there darlin', we were just asking your young man here if you all wouldn't mind us sitting with you. All the others are taken.”

In a quick scan of the space I saw he was telling the truth. “That's perfectly fine,” I answered while wondering just how Loki had answered the question. 

“I told them this is ours,” Loki said, angry eyes now fixed on me. The flowers in the tin watering can at the center of the table began to slowly brown and wilt, petal by petal. 

“There are two other chairs, Harry,” I answered. “No need to be selfish. I'd rather sit closer to you anyway.” I pulled out the chair next to him, which he had been using to prop up his arm, and slid into it. He was thrown slightly off-balance and the gerbera daisies felt his wrath as they were turned into rainbow confetti to fall on the white cloth.

Our guests didn't seem to notice. The woman made a point of staring at my left hand while holding hers out on the table just so to catch the early light. “In town for the weekend?” she asked.

“We're on our honeymoon,” cut in the man. “Chris and Jesse Lemieux. From Shreveport, just got married after nine long years of waiting for the right moment, which with God's blessing was yesterday. Pledged only to each other for all eternity.”

“Pity.” Loki looked over them slowly before turning his glare back to me.

“Congratulations,” I answered. It wouldn't hurt to be sociable for as long as it took to eat a perfectly sugared grapefruit half. “Those are some vague names you've got there though. Who's Chris and who's Jesse?”

They each frowned and looked at the other. Both of them were right out of a sneaker commercial, tall and fit and flawless. People like that weren't used to being questioned.

“I'm Chris,” she answered. “He's Jesse. And you are?”

“Just passing through on our way to Galveston. Headed out first thing tomorrow.” No one needed the truth as far as I was concerned. I pressed firmly down on Loki's boot with my heel in the hopes that he would get the message and play along. 

No such luck. “That is also in New Mexico?” he asked me.

I smiled indulgently and caressed his cheek. With my other hand, I dug my fingers into his thigh. “Honey, I know you have these crazy ideas about the desert, but we don't have the time. You have to be back to work in three days.”

“No. Tomorrow. I will not delay any longer.”

I exaggerated my pout. “Do you really want to leave me already? I thought we were just starting to have a good time.” I smiled at our guests. “It's our first real getaway.” Twisting in my chair to press against him, I laid a kiss right below his ear. “Stop talking,” I whispered.

He tensed in response, and the hard glint was still in his eyes, but at least he was quiet. Chris and Jesse watched us with tight grins. “I understand what it's like to not want to go back to the old routine,” said Chris directly to Loki. “Sometimes you need to live in the moment.”

I didn't like the looks that seemed to be telegraphing between her fake smile and my fake boyfriend. His mouth was still set firm but his eyes were taking in everything. 

“So, what do you do?” asked Jesse. “It was Harry, right? You look to me like a man who doesn't mind getting his hands dirty.”

Loki kept silent. 

“You look like a very creative type, a risk-taker,” said Chris. “I bet you have quite the imagination.”

She wasn't going to get away with that. I knew how to make my madman smile. I could give him something he couldn't dispute. If the early morning show in my REM sleep had been courtesy of Loki, then it was likely what had played before that had come from his mind as well: a fall into a shifting-color expanse full of stars, a promise of power made on a barren wasteland, the formation of an army, a world defeated, a triumphant return home, the embrace of a mother. 

“Demolition,” I answered. “Large-scale projects.”

“Indeed,” agreed Loki, who turned to look at me without anger and rested his hand on my thigh, under my skirt.

I expected Jesse to nod his head knowingly and Chris to steer the conversation back to them but instead they each gave mirrored expressions of alarm and the woman reached for her pocket. These reactions took half a second but they made me look closer. What I had taken for awkward religious folks in their first throes of connubial bliss confronted by the personification of hedonism might not be accurate. 

“Any recommendations for places to go while we're in town? Maybe we could tag along if you've got something in mind?” asked Chris. “I'm afraid this is the first time we've left our room.”

Oh, that was a lie. “Sorry, I haven't seen much but the ceiling myself, right love? This sounded like a good idea but I'm afraid we haven't had any motivation ourselves to see the sights.” I leaned in to nip at Loki's ear. “You know how it is. I'm surprised we made it this far from the bed.” 

“We have been here too long,” said Loki, rising from the table and taking my hand firmly. 

I had been ready to make our apologies and our exit, but now that had been taken from my to-do list. “Maybe we'll see you later,” I said with an appropriately embarrassed grin. “Have a nice day.”

“Dinner?” asked Jesse as I was pulled rather intently back up the stairs. 

“We'll see.”

I swear our door opened without Loki even using his key. Once it was closed, I found myself pressed against the edge of the notice indicating the emergency exits. Loki had my hand still clasped, stretched above my head, pinned to the wooden frame. His other hand was up my dress all the way, tugging at the cup of my bra in the narrow space between our bodies as his hips dug in against me. My sudden exhalation at being trapped was caught by his mouth as it captured mine. His tongue was cool and sweet, as if he had just had an ice cream cone. 

I could have spent all day like this. 

I didn't have all day. I didn't even have an hour. 

My free hand, which had automatically attached itself on his shoulder at first as if they were magnets now worked to push him away. “No.”

“No? You just told those others you desired me. You touched me and you kissed me to show them your claim on me.”

“I said and did a lot of things. We have to leave. Now.”

He looked over my head to read. “This document says the room is ours until eleven. If you'd prefer we move to the bed, I will oblige. I watched your little show with interest when you woke. I thought you were going to undulate those hips closer to me and I would be able to get a clearer look at that picture painted on your shoulder, but then you dressed and left the room even though you never stopped thinking about yourself underneath me.”

There was a definite battle between north and south being waged in my body. My hips remained angled against his, but my arm stayed locked to keep him at a distance.

“We need to get back on the road. No time to waste.”

He lifted my hand off his shoulder and kissed my wrist. “Time would not be wasted.” His lips moved up on a steady path. “There would not be one unfilled moment.”

I hate you, I thought, and I didn't know if I meant him or my conscience. “No.”

“Why not? You offered. I am accepting.”

“I was just playing a part for their benefit. Are you packed?”

“Yes.” Finally, he stepped away. 

I closed my eyes and tried to reset myself. We needed to start this morning all over again. “Then let's go.”

“Why must there be such haste? I was not threatened by them.”

“Can I answer in the car?” The bathroom was clear and nothing was kicked under the bed. It was a straight shot down the stairs to the parking lot. We could have the engine running in two minutes.

“Tell me now. What about them made you wary?”

I tried to think of the best way to describe what I saw. “For honeymooners, they were very focused on not touching. There was an awkwardness borne from unfamiliarity- I thought it might be some good old residual, religion-based fear of sex, but it was an overall discomfort with each other, and I didn't like the way they were looking at you.”

His vanity made him smirk.

“It wasn't in a _Let's all go back to our room, I've got a camcorder and an idea_ kind of way. It was more of a _These are the droids we're looking for_ and don't make me explain all of that now. They let us go, but I want to be on the road before they notice we've left.”

There was no sign of Chris or Jesse or whoever they were as I left the car idling to make sure we were checked out. Maybe I was being hypersensitive but I was chauffeuring a man days away from declaring a war. Any little thing was going to make me jump. I was anxious to get back to the highway where I could press on the gas and get some emotion out. 

Loki read the street sign as we turned the corner. “Terpsichore. I know her. Jealous little thing, just like you.”

I had always wanted to be compared to a muse, but if anything, this trip was going to reinforce that I needed to be careful what I wished for. “Me? Jealous? I don't think so.”

“Your brow furrowed when you saw them near me. You clutched me close when they spoke.”

“I was trying to misdirect them and you were doing your damnedest to wreck it all. Tell me why Terpsichore was jealous? Did you seduce all her sisters, too?”

“I couldn't pick just one. They all had their own delights.”

“I thought the muses were big on poetry and boring stuff like that.”

“Poetry is nothing without rhythm, Lyssa.” He stretched out his hand and began to tap iambs onto my thigh with two long fingers, the pattern considerably slower than the pace of my heartbeat. 

I didn't respond as I took the exit to get us back on the highway. It was tempting to try and find some other route but I wasn't all that familiar with this stretch of road and I didn't want us lost. We sat in silence until we were out of town and back into empty landscape.

“What about us?” Loki asked at last.

“What do you mean?” Those three words had way too many interpretations.

“You said those two at the hotel had an awkwardness due to unfamiliarity. Did we present the same awkwardness?”

I glanced over. “I can tell by your face you already know the answer. You, sir, could have sexual chemistry with a desk lamp. If you have, by the way, I don't want to know about it. You breathe confidence. I don't think our little scene had any flaws except for you trying to contradict everything I said. I know it's automatic for you, but I was trying to save our asses back there. Maybe they were just a couple out in an unfamiliar town looking for some company, but maybe they were operatives from a covert government agency dedicated to tracking down anything out of the ordinary. I couldn't take that risk. You wanted to keep suspicion off you and that's what I was doing.”

“You have my thanks.”

I nearly hit the brakes.

“You're welcome, Mister... well, do you have a last name? Is that a thing where you're from?”

“Odins.. no. I am just Loki now. I exist beyond my father's blood. Any father's blood.”

“I get that. Family is coincidence. You didn't have any say in it, but if you're from Asgard and it's this awesome place you say it is, then own it. Does anyone there know you're still alive?”

“My mother does. I'm certain she's told the others.” He paused and added, “Not that she's really my mother.”

“Did she have to take care of you?” I asked, not ready to give him any sympathy on this point.

“When my father... when Odin brought me back from Jotunheim, I can't believe she had a choice.”

“Did she love you anyway? Did she treat you like you were her son?”

“Yes.” His voice was so quiet. It wasn't timid or uncertain, but it lacked the bombast of his usual declarations. 

“Then she's your mother. Did she kick you out? Turn her back on you?”

“No, she made me king.”

“Then you have at least one more person on your side,” I said.

“One more apart from you?”

“Do you see anyone else here driving your ass across the country? Of course me. Look, my mother left as soon as she could, trying her best to live her life without any attachments, leaving me on my own to never know when the next blow was going to fall, uncertain whose couch I was going to sleep on as my dad decided he needed to relive his misspent youth instead of participating in mine. I can't believe I'm going to say this but I'm more jealous of your traditional, stable two-parent household than the fact that it happened in a space palace.”

“I still never fit in and when I would ask them why, they would insist it was only in my imagination. They knew the truth and kept it from me until I was already a man. I deserved better than to be lied to, to make me doubt my own mind. I will show them all that it was wrong to treat me so.”

“Yeah, I'm gonna do that one day too. Make them regret they didn't give a damn earlier. I'm going to make things happen.” 

“By aiding in the destruction of your own civilization?”

“And what has it done for me? You keep my little corner of the world safe and you can let the rest of it burn.”

Loki's hand reached out to brush my hair back behind my ear. “I knew I chose well when I first met you.”

By the time we stopped for lunch I was ready to stretch my legs and breathe. We hadn't said much the rest of the morning- small questions about life on our respective planets, you know, usual road trip banter, nothing more specific about the past or the future. None of that mattered. 

At the door to the diner, however, we seemed to reach an impasse.

“You should open the door for me, I'm a lady,” I said, thinking we were still on the level we had reached in the car.

“You should open the door for me, I am your liege,” he answered in what I considered his imperial tone and neither of us moved, two stubborn mules, until a family with a passel of small children all dressed in their Sunday best exited. I held the door open high above their tiny heads and once the line of ducklings had left, I walked through. 

Loki kept up his king of infinite space act as he refused the laminated one-sheet menu. “Nothing is good enough.”

“Well, what would be, your majesty?”

“Every day in Asgard, there was a grand feast in the great hall, always some feat of heroism or day of honor to celebrate,” he answered. “Tables as long as this room filled with towering plates. No waiting, no choosing, no having to ask.” 

“Yeah, well when you're paying for it, you can have all that. For now you're getting a cheeseburger.”

Loki crossed his arms and glared out the window as the waitress approached and I placed our order. He managed to even eat sullenly until I saw his head tilt and his brow crease. I followed his gaze to the gas station across the street which I had planned to be our next stop before ending the day in San Antonio. 

Away from the pumps, leaning against an intentionally nondescript black car, was a man speaking into a phone who looked a lot like Michael, the guy from the bar the night before. He was too far away to make a positive identification, but from the way Loki had coiled himself to prepare to spring up from the table, he must have reached the same conclusion I had. 

Mistaken identity, coincidence, a trick of the light, a guilty conscience, dumb luck. Any of these could have explained it, but none of those options made the lead ball in my chest disappear. While my first instinct was to toss some money on the table and sprint for the door, we weren't in the worst tactical position. The diner was steadily full, people were taking their time enjoying their lazy Sunday afternoon. If anyone was to make a scene, it would be noticed. Out on the road, it would be easier to have the car left abandoned and we would never be seen again. 

“We must leave now,” said Loki.

“No.” This was not what he wanted to hear. “I think we've been found out. That looks a lot like the guy you punched last night.”

“It is him,” he answered. “He has followed us.”

“We're three hundred miles from New Orleans, it is hard to believe he just happened to be going the same way and stopped at the same time. This is bad news. He knows which way we're headed, what car we're driving, oh goddamn it, why did I think booking hotels in advance would be a good idea?” 

I could cancel my reservation and just show up somewhere else, but my cash reserves were less than ideal for such a plan. A couple extra bucks might not have helped too much, but it was proof I was really winging this despite my confidence.

“How should we continue?” Loki asked.

“You didn't have a backup plan?”

“You have handled everything capably thus far. We can always set a trap and when he falls in, we kill him.”

I was willing to consider every option at this point. “If I thought it was just him, I'd say go for it, but he has to be a small part of something bigger. They'll know where he is and if he doesn't come back. What you're after, it's essential to your plan?”

Loki paused. “Essential? No. Preferable? Yes. It would make victory all the sweeter but does not ensure it.”

“So, do we drop it or keep going? This is all on you.”

“We continue. I will not shy away from those who wish to stop me. They may try but they will not succeed.”

I hadn't expected any other answer. “All right then, we get back on the road, keep a closer eye on the other cars, and find a new hotel. Tomorrow we'll go get what you need.”

I was tense the rest of the afternoon, constantly checking my mirrors, aware of the shoulders and the exits, where we could safely escape and where we would be trapped. Loki kept silent, his eyes open but not seeing. His body may have been in the car, but his mind was miles away. As we passed through town, I tried not to look at the hotel I had reserved, right on the Riverwalk with a rooftop pool and spa. The knotted muscles in my back pleaded for me to reconsider. Any place out of the way enough to make me feel secure was going to have ancient mattresses and rusty spigots and that horrifyingly lung-filling scent of old cigarette smoke and processed air blended into one.

When we emerged on the other side, I found a place that looked like it could fit- a dingy little two-story motel with a bar on one side and an algae-tinged pool on the other. I paid in cash for the night. Hourly options were given to me, but I assured them we'd need more than that. With the key in my pocket, I drove around back.

There was no ideal parking space that could guarantee a clear getaway. The other end of the lot ended in a barely vertical fence and rusting green dumpster, and across from the building, the drop was fairly steep. If there was any chance we'd need some of Loki's magic, it would be here. I backed into a space right in front of our door.

We had been given real keys, none of those newfangled credit-card locks for this place. I wiggled and twisted it and just when I was afraid it might snap, the handle turned and we were in. The air was stale and still and thick. I dropped the bags on the bed and turned to hit the switch for the air conditioner mounted just barely into the wall. In that moment of distraction, Loki strode past me toward the other door and, to my disbelief, before long I heard the fall of water from the showerhead.

The one thing I had been looking forward to- ten minutes to escape the stress of the day and untangle the rats' nest of muscles in my back and he stole it from me. I fell against the scratchy striped bedspread and let the lone sliver of sunlight cut me in two. The mattress was hard and aggravated my pain. I stretched and twisted but nothing helped. I was seconds away from standing up and demanding to share in the spray of hot water when the pipes creaked closed and Loki emerged dressed though he hadn't taken his bag in with him. He didn't even give me the opportunity to see him wrapped only in a towel. _Asshole._

"You will be safe here alone." There was no question to his voice.

"Where are you going?" I had a fair idea but part of me did hope he was thinking of the grander plan and not just his dick. “You're really going to go out and try to score? I've been watching our backs all afternoon and you want to go off and lie on yours under some easy piece of ass?”

“You know what I am,” he answered without any trace of shame. 

“I do,” I replied, already defeated. “I was just hoping you'd prioritize. If we need to make a quick escape, I won't have time to go searching for you.”

“I understand. I shall return shortly.” With the creak of a hinge that sounded like a dying swan, the door closed behind him and I was free. 

Once Loki was gone, I felt vulnerable. I didn't like that. I worked very hard to never feel defenseless, to never feel unsafe, just because I was alone. The last thing I needed was a big strong man to protect me, but I also never had put myself in a position like this. If men in black suits were to bust down the door, would I rat Loki out and tell them everything? I knew without a doubt if he came strolling back and found me being hauled away into a Suburban, never to be seen again, he'd turn and walk the other way. There was no way I could do the same. Maybe it was better he was gone. I could be the distraction he needed to run.

Still, the idea of a shower called to me. I would be at my most exposed- cornered, naked, unarmed, but I had to do something to loosen the tension along my spine. The ache was taking over all other thought and I couldn't wait for Loki to return. The tiny bottles lined up on the sink called to me to empty them of their translucent liquids and shut my mind off for a while, if I could. Hopefully Loki wouldn't wander off too far or there'd be a siren in my head. No, I wasn't going to think about that. Right now I was going to strip off my clothes and just listen to the rush of the water.

Steam still hung in the air in the tiny bathroom, warm and soapy and heavy. Maybe I should have followed Loki in after all, watched the bubbles sluice off his body, ran my hands along his slick wet hair, have him knead my shoulders with those long fingers, arching my back as they moved lower and lower. I followed that line of thought as I pressed my hands against the tiled wall and let the needles of water drum my skin. It wasn't until I turned around again in the tub and pulled the curtain back, the oily water swirling around my ankles, that I noticed there were no towels on the rack. A quick survey showed they were in a sodden pile behind the door where it would close and they'd be hidden. Each one was a useless rag. King of an advanced fucking civilization, my ass. I knew feral teenagers with better manners.

I stepped out to search for a hair dryer, at least, to remove the drops of water clinging to me before dressing again and found Loki pacing by the windows. 

“Why?” was as far as I got before I saw the lightning flash beyond the curtains. 

“He knows,” is how Loki answered. “He's coming to stop me. I'm not ready.” He turned to me, not even seeing that I was shivering in the now too-cool air, my wet hair dripping down my back. “Why should he get everything? Why does he get to be happy?”

“Babe, will world domination really make you happy?”

“I'm going to find out.” Loki tried to pace the floor but with his long strides he was across the room in two steps. He laid his hands flat against the wall and pressed his forehead against the rough textured paint.

“Your brother isn't here. This storm was in the forecast all week. I looked it up before we even left. I should have told you. Everything's fine.” The tension eased a little from his posture. “Go back out. If you don't want to be caught in the rain, I'm sure there are some easy marks sitting over at the bar. I won't be there this time to throw you off your game. Have fun while you still can.”

Now his eyes looked me over. “Why do you keep turning me away?”

“I'm not turning you away, I'm telling you to go back to doing what you were before.”

“I don't want to leave.” It wasn't a pout, or a contradiction purely for the sake of contradiction. He was being honest.

“It would be best for you to stay here. I don't think you're going to find a woman either so desperate or so adventurous you could bring your scepter along without question and I don't like the idea of not knowing where to find you.” I took a deep breath. “If you needed to, I guess you could use me.”

“You have a charmingly limited Midgardian vocabulary. How could I use you?” he asked, not moving, still suspicious.

My trickle of shyness evaporated. “You can kiss my ass, you jerk. Do you think it was easy for me to say that? Tomorrow you'll have you want and you'll take this hex off of me. Everything will be over and I won't care anymore.”

The last line was too harsh. I knew it as soon as I said it without having to see his eyes turn cold again.

“I am aware that I have to compel people to care. I don't want your pity.”

“Then why don't you remove it now? It's not like it was ever at full power anyway. If it's gone and I say, _fuck you_ , then you know it was the scepter. If you take it off and I say, _fuck me_ , then you know it wasn't.”

I smiled encouragingly. We had to resolve this soon. I was freezing, still naked in the middle of the room. He reached for the scepter where he had placed it under the bed and then walked purposely toward me. Like the first time, he pressed the point to my chest. Again I felt the fog and the swirl of two minds in one space, but then the other pulled away, and it was only me again from edge to edge. I felt like a hangover had suddenly cleared. 

“Well?” he asked, concern on his face. 

“Don't say another word.” 

I pulled a chair from the small round table by the window and set it behind him. With one hand I pushed Loki back into it and sat on his lap, one foot flat on each side. His smug smile faded when I twisted my hand in his hair and tugged back sharply, exposing his long pale neck. I took tiny nips along the underside of that sharp jawline and traveled down the tendons to the hollow of his throat. 

I wasn't sure what I was doing, but it's what I felt I had to do. If I didn't take the lead, how was this different than letting him seduce me? Usually, it had been a relief to play the passive one in the only place I didn't have to be in complete control, but with Loki, I wanted to be in charge, I wanted to have him beg me for more. What did it matter really? He'd be gone tomorrow. Hell, if his plan actually worked we might all be gone tomorrow. I wanted to give him some memories that weren't completely dark, for a little while he could know he wasn't alone. 

Grasping his earlobe with my teeth, I pulled it into my mouth. Letting go of his hair, I began to unbutton his shirt slowly. His hands tried to come up, but I swatted them away. The smirk on his face made me waver a little. He could tell I was fumbling my way through this dominant act, but I had already started and I wasn't going to stop now. If Loki thought he was simply humoring me, I'd prove him wrong. As my hands returned to the shirt, my fingers hit each other instead of shell buttons. “No. No trickery. You go at my pace. Put it back.” It did not reappear. He was not going to make this easy.

If the gift was half unwrapped, I might as well see what I had to play with. I paused and he noticed, tense beneath me. This was not the skin of an idle prince who could rely on sorcery to get him out of any tight spot. There were thick slashes and thin spiderweb lines cut into him all over, healed but raised, scars from at least half a dozen different battles or one hell of a war. He shrank back as I traced them, leaning in closer to examine the knit together flesh. If he started a fight, he was going to see it through.

I wanted to kiss him, not breathless and hungry, but sincerely. How would he react? Schoolboys kissed. Men like Loki possessed. He had kissed me earlier in the hotel room, but only briefly. Would it be too simple and innocent for him? I knew I was at least four steps beyond simple and innocent, naked on his lap, rocking my hips against his, but still I was hesitant. 

To hell with it. I kissed him anyway. His head pulled back, skittish, as I began to lean in to press my lips innocently against his. Immediately his mouth opened and his tongue darted out, but I took evasive maneuvers and focused my attention on only his lower lip, holding it lightly between my teeth before I let go. The smirk had simmered down to a curious half-smile. I considered this progress. 

With no shirt to toss aside, I moved on to the button above his zipper. Wet denim is never any fun and I was sure I had gotten him more damp than if he had walked out in the rain. Well, that's what he got for leaving me without a towel. Everything had looked fine so far, more than fine, damn fine, so I was hoping the final frontier was not incontrovertible truth that the man beneath me really was an alien. I wasn't asking for much, well average at least. The exploratory grinds I had made with my hips made me fairly sure there was enough to work with. I slid the zipper slowly down, not expecting the damn thing to spring out like I had played the last note on a jack-in-the-box.

Most questions about why Loki was such an arrogant, confident, jackass of a man were answered in that instant.

I lifted myself off of his lap so he could escape his jeans on his own. I needn't have bothered because he wished those away as well. I stepped back, waiting for him to rise- well he had already done that, rather for him to stand up and fall with me onto the scratchy bedspread, but he didn't move, a pale statue of a king on the simplest throne. 

Now I lost some nerve. Who was I in comparison? Queens, great beauties of every age and particularly accepting animals had all offered themselves to him. What could I do to stand out and remain a pleasant memory in his days going forward? Loki raised one hand and curled one long finger to summon me closer. Loki grasped my hips and groaned as I lowered myself down and seated myself, my eyes closed to focus on the sensation, but before I could raise myself back up again, his hands pushed me away. 

“No.”

What had I done wrong? “No?”

“See me. Look into my eyes. Know without a doubt it is I inside you.”

As if I could have fantasized about anyone else. Those days were over. 

I held onto his shoulders as I steadied myself and again I was one with the god of mischief. Once more his hand grasped my hip and helped set the pace, his green eyes on me all the while. Loki laid one palm flat against my cheek and once more I felt myself shift to let in someone else. His eyes closed, but mine stayed wide open as I saw me, up close and in this moment, though through a funhouse mirror. I never blushed that prettily- it was always more like I had run a marathon in July than the flush of rose petals rubbed on my cheeks that I saw now and I knew my neck was not that long and my waist didn't nip in that much. I pulled the hand away and let him leave. “You wanted me to see you, let me see you.”

As soon as the first cry tore from my throat Loki rose from the chair and carried me the three steps to the bed. I fell back with a particularly loud creak of the springs. I had to laugh. I had no defenses up and it slipped past my lips. Loki froze and the light in his eyes vanished. If I thought it was possible, I could have sworn they flashed red. 

“Really?” I said. “That wasn't funny to you? It's like we woke up a goose under the mattress. Come back here and see if we can make him honk again.”

I kept my smile on and I was rewarded with one most likely not seen on his face since he was a young prince of Asgard, taking genuine delight. He leaned forward, first his hands on the bed and then his knees, slinking forward like a cat toward a mouse, until he was back between my legs and that damn squawk filled my ears again and again.

When the caterwauling became more of a sigh, Loki dropped to the bed beside me and laughed. “That reminded me of a time I was in the boathouse, thinking I was hidden from the world, except for the incessant call of the ducks outside. I had fed them every time I visited the lake with my mother and they were expecting the same.”

“Please tell me you weren't in the boathouse with a duck.”

“No,” he smiled. “A girl, buxom and trusting, just like you.”

“Buxom I've heard before but trusting, never.”

“You attacked me without fear. You trusted I would not be displeased.”

“Attacked is a strong word. I didn't see you putting up much of a fight.”

“You are my ally. I have no reason to fight with you.”

“That may be the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me,” I replied, but _ally_ and _fight_ reminded me that we should still be on alert. With all my effort, I tried to lift myself off the bed, but Loki pulled me back. 

“I should get dressed and you might want to magic some clothes back on yourself. If we need to run, we need to be ready.”

“Did you think we were done?” he asked. “The sun is still in the sky. There are many hours before we travel again.”

Looking at him stretched out on the horrible faux Native American printed blankets, I was tempted. I was more than tempted. 

“The fact that nothing has happened yet doesn't mean we're safe. I don't want to be caught unprepared. Once has to be enough.”

“You are safe. I will protect you. Once is never enough.” His tongue drew a line up my neck and I lost my ability for thought.

“I don't know if I could risk it. Not sure all of my mind came back from where you sent it.”

“Then you will be very ill-served for you did not have much to spare,” he said, with a smile and not a nasty victorious smirk, the genuine result of pleasure given out and returned in kind.

“You're telling me,” I answered with a smile of my own. I ran my fingers along a particularly nasty starburst of scars close to his heart. “You really don't back away from a fight, do you?”

Loki's hand grasped mine to pull it away. “You don't think it's weakness, that I let an enemy get close enough to me to pierce me like this so savagely?”

He really thought that. I used my other hand to turn his face back toward me. “I think it's amazing that you had this happen to you, all of this, and you kept going. A couple more inches and you'd be dead, sweetheart, but I'm not even entirely sure about that. I don't know if there's anything that can stop you once you're determined. I hate to say it again, but wow.”

“They are not flaws to you?”

“No, these are badges of honor. That asshole back in New Orleans was right- you're not afraid to get your hands dirty. I'm impressed.”

“I am afraid my skin was not meant to be smooth, or pale, or warm like yours. My decorations are not as colorful. May I see it again?”

Graciously refusing to comment on the god of mischief's sudden display of modesty, I lay on my stomach with my head turned away, staring at the wall as Loki's fingers walked along my shoulder blade.

“What is this exactly?” he asked, cold nails scraping against my skin. 

“It's just my tattoo.”

“It's unexpected, but beautiful. What is its significance? Clearly you had it done purposely. It appears to be permanent.”

I preferred when people assumed I had the floral domino mask inked on only because I thought it was pretty, but I knew Loki would understand. “It's me. It's the mask I keep on, but if you know what you're looking at, you can see everything I'm trying to hide. The flowers it's made of all mean different things.”

“Tell me,” said Loki as he traced the lines so gently it began to tickle. “I want to know how you see yourself. I recognize mistletoe.”

“You know one, that's good. That means, _I surmount all obstacles_.”

He laughed softly. “I believe that. The blue bells?”

“Well, those are uniquely called bluebells, and they symbolize constancy. The snowdrop is hope, the ivy means fidelity, the daffodils- the yellow ones stand for new beginnings, the purple ones are lupin, for imagination and the orange ones are zinnias, and they mean _I mourn your absence_.”

“Who do you mourn?” He laid his hand flat over the whole of my design.

“I added those for my grandparents. They were the closest thing I had to people to emulate. They were responsible and loving and everything they failed to pass on to their daughter. When they died, I was set adrift.”

“When I rule this place, you will never feel that way again. You will be under my protection.”

“What if you don't rule?” I asked. “What if something happens and you're defeated? What if your army wins, but you're killed? What if you're just too busy conquering planets and you forget about me? Don't make me any promises, ok?”

“I don't make any statements I don't intend to keep.”

“I'm sure you don't,” I answered, “but sometimes events are just out of your control.”

“I have studied magic far beyond my mother's afternoon lessons in pretty enchantments to avoid such an occurrence. You will be safe.”

“Thank you.” I reached for his hand, just to squeeze it in acknowledgment, but he pulled away. That was fine. Our time together had gone down from days to just hours. I didn't need to get soft now.

“Here, I'll read to you from your book until you sleep,” offered Loki. “I will keep watch while you rest.”

“Oh, you just want to know what the evil count's plan is after all,” I teased.

“I admit no such curiosity,” he said sternly, but once that smile had laid claim to his lips it never really disappeared again.

“Liar.”

*-*-*


	4. Day Four and After

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We find out if the plan succeeds.

**After: Saint Augustine**

 

That day, someone unimaginatively named it afterward “The Battle of New York,” I made sure the television over the bar was set to ESPN Classic. Reports had been coming in steady over just about every other channel, but I knew none of the regulars were going to ask to have it switched over to the news and all of our customers were regulars. Better to let them argue over the finer points of a basketball game played forty years ago than to have any of them squint at the screen and go, _Isn't that your friend Harry?_ Whatever was going to happen was still going to happen without me knowing about it in real time. Until then, there were tables to wipe down and napkin holders to refill and a dishwasher to constantly empty.

It had been more stressful than I thought in the weeks since the time I last saw Loki to be maybe the only person who knew the whole planet was a target. Possibly I cared after all? I couldn't sleep though my body was exhausted. My nerves were on edge constantly to the point I'd be sick over the slightest thing. Panic attacks would come as I considered Loki losing control of the army, leaving no one safe and there was nothing I could do. He was on his own and I had to wait.

No part of me had really expected Loki to be curled up in bed around me our final morning together in that tiny little Texas hotel room. I had slept in bursts, waking every time he reached for me and then drifting back into my dreams once we parted. When I opened my eyes that last time, knowing I was as rested as I was going to be, I found him dressed in his armor, just as I had first seen him. There was no time for afterglow. This was the day he had been waiting for. 

“How long before you are ready to travel?”

“Give me ten minutes,” I answered, kicking off the scratchy sheets and dropping my feet to the floor. 

The room was dark and I made my way around by the weak parking lot stanchion light coming in from the opened curtains. “No sign of anyone suspicious?” I asked as I hefted my bag onto the table to rummage through it more efficiently. 

Loki raked his eyes across me. “Nothing. We have not been discovered.”

“That's not necessarily true,” I replied. “But if we can get on the road unobstructed that's good news.”

It wasn't just the clothes, Loki's whole demeanor was back to how it was when we met. There was a tension in his muscles that hadn't been there the last few days and the dark shadows under his eyes were beginning to make a comeback. I hadn't seen him asleep any time I had awoken in the night. Honestly, he didn't look at his best to be undertaking whatever it was we were undertaking, but we were so close now and there was nowhere to go but forward.

I loaded up our bags after allowing myself two whole minutes in the shower. My car was the only one in the lot. The utility trucks that had been parked near us earlier were already gone by the barest hint of dawn in the sky. Loki took his seat without saying another word.

We kept up our silence until the sun was fully visible and hitting my rearview mirror. “So are you going to tell me your grand plan, or am I still just the wheelman?”

Loki turned his head to me. I could sense it, but I kept my eyes on the road. None of the other drivers looked to be following us too closely, but I needed to keep aware.

“My brother has an attachment here on this planet, a woman. I plan on concealing her away until the takeover is complete. This will distract him from any urge he may have to stop me. Afterward, I think she will be enough incentive to negotiate my return to Asgard.”

“So you're planning on making this personal?” I answered, trying to ignore the contempt in his voice as he spoke of the lowly human woman. Poor girl. If Thor was anything like his brother though, I couldn't be sure if this was the right bait. “Are you certain he cares enough to use her against him like this? I'd hate for you to go through all this trouble for a drunken hookup.”

“He cares. I could tell. He is weak that way.”

“So, you met her? What's her name? What does she look like?”

“I haven't met her. I have only seen her through the Destroyer.”

Sure, because that's a sentence you hear every day and totally makes sense. “So, you've never met her but you know that she and your brother have a strong enough connection that you can just walk up to her and say- hey my brother thinks you need to come along with me because the planet's gonna blow? She's going to buy this? You don't exactly look harmless, especially dressed up in battle armor.”

“I am persuasive,” he answered.

“You don't need to tell me that, but you also need to lay low. Let me go in and lure her out. Where are we going to find her?”

“Her name is Jane. She claims to be a scientist, working in that place called Puente Antiguo, where I found my brother. She will not leave yet in the hope he will return. I must do this myself. I cannot risk my plan at this late stage. If it were to go wrong, all would be lost. I cannot have you involved.”

So, I was just the wheelman. Got it. I wondered if his contempt was for all women, or just Earth women. It wasn't the most rational thought, but it was the strongest. “It's a lab, she's a nerd. How hard could it be? People aren't going to look at me twice. I'll get her out of the building and you can whisk her away.”

“No,” was his answer and I had no further reply. When I did glance over to him, he was beyond silent. His face was empty and his body completely still. Wherever he was, it wasn't in the passenger seat. 

I let myself have a dozen different conversations with him in my imagination, knowing he couldn't hear them now. Every image from falling to my knees before him begging to let me stay with him to somehow opening the passenger door to see him tumble out as I kept driving at high speed flashed across my mind and nothing hit as the right answer. This was always his quest and there was nothing to do but follow his lead. 

As we approached the town, if any place two blocks square could legitimately be called a town, I slowed down and looked over at Loki. He was still but he was there. “This is it. Any changes to the game plan?”

“Take me to the place I directed to you and then leave.”

This was the point of the whole assignment- to be done with each other but it was one traffic light away now and it was too soon. Men in dark suits marking the perimeter stood out against the sandy backdrop, pepper spots in country gravy. Loki wouldn't even get to the door before at least one of them would break the smooth line of his suit and draw on him.

“Are you sure there's nothing I can do? A woman could get through the door much easier.”

“I agree,” he said to my surprise and I turned to him. 

In the seat beside me was a woman, a woman with a capital Whoa, not a person who happened to be female, the kind that made you understand why men did stupid shit like write poetry and fight wars. His dark hair was no longer slicked back in an absent-minded attempt to disguise the neglect, it was longer and fell in nesting waves past his shoulders to frame breasts so high and round that I had to hold back my own hand from reaching for them. His pale skin set off the lush hollyberry-red lips and his lashes were thick and full. Overall, he was stunning but it wasn't too much- no starlet walking out of the shimmering horizon, just a naturally captivating woman looking for her friend, colleague, whatever story Loki chose to tell.

“You can't keep your voice. It doesn't work.”

“Is this better?” he asked and there was a helpless quiver added in as well that was going to get him through every door in that place.

“They're most likely still on the lookout for this car, so I'll stop here and you get out.”

Loki lowered his voice a touch. “We will not see each other again after this.”

I hadn't been brave enough to say the words myself, but I couldn't dwell on hearing Loki speak them.

“Well, that was always the plan, wasn't it?” I asked with a smile. “I drive you to where you need to be and then we're back on our own paths. I'm not going to cry about that now.”

“Of course,” he replied, the ice back in his voice. 

“Well, if you need anything else, you know where to find me. Don't kill any innocent people.”

“I make no promises,” Loki answered.

“Well, I wouldn't believe you if you did.” 

Some corner of my soul that still believed in hope and rainbows wanted him to kiss me one last time, but he reached for the door and left without a glance back.

This was it. Everything was over. I was free now to go back to my life, as long as Loki was sure of his plan. 

I couldn't help it. I got out of the car and walked to a point where I could see him approach the building. He might still need a getaway driver. Once I saw that he was successful, I could leave. It wouldn't hurt to stay a few more minutes. 

As he had predicted, I could see him charm the guards at forty paces. They spoke into their radios and circled him, jostling for attention until a small woman walked out, shook his hand and led him inside. That was easy. I turned to walk away when a couple in black burst out of a door down the street. Chris and Jesse. Their eyes were on the building across the street and neither turned to notice me.

“Do we have an ID on the woman?” asked Chris.

“It's not the driver,” answered Jesse. 

“They're certain? Those two are still headed this way. Michael's circling San Antonio for them but I know this is the endgame.”

“We're sticking to your plan. Anyone unfamiliar who comes asking for Doctor Foster is going to be detained for questioning. Darcy is leading her to the secure room now.”

“Good. We'll make her talk. The sooner we can get this taken care of, the better. Doctor Foster was not happy about being kept away but we need to assess the threat.”

Why did I ask Loki to remove our mind meld? It seemed like much less of a nuisance now as I tried to follow the agents at a distance while figuring out my next move. A ruckus at the front door would certainly get everyone's attention, but as I saw Jesse and Chris split up, maybe a more direct approach would be better.

Chris didn't turn until I already had the muzzle pressed between her shoulder blades.

“Being right seems a little less satisfying now?” I asked. I had always been told not to pull out the gun unless I intended to use it, and I was intending hard. The person in front of me wanted to cause me harm, cause Loki harm, and I would pull that trigger as if she were a coke bottle on a fencepost. “I'm going to need my friend back.”

“I could probably downplay the felonies you're committing right now if you tell me what you're here for,” she answered, not moving, hands up in a show of compliance. “Where's your boyfriend?”

Here I did pause and this is where I failed. There was no way Loki's plan could be carried out to assure his way home. I had no idea where this Jane was. I could demand to be told but there was no guarantee Chris would tell the truth. In my moment of indecision, I could hear footsteps behind me. I had caught myself up with the very god of chaos and I had offered up my freedom for someone who could take care of himself, who would leave me behind in the blink of an eye.

_Loki, what do I do?_

The buzz and hum returned to my head. 

_Are you in danger?_

_She's not here_ , I said in my head. _They anticipated us. It's a trap. You have to get out._

_Are you hurt? Where are you?_

The least smart thing would be to draw him to me. He had to make a break for it. I didn't have any value to them. _Don't worry about me. Get out._

_I gave you my word that you would be safe_ , he replied as an echo between my ears.

_And I gave you mine. Run. Now._

And with that, our last connection was broken. I stepped back and let the gun fall from my hand as my arms were wrenched and bound. 

***

At the end of my shift I stepped out of Carmen's, content that at least the people there were safe and unaware. I waved to the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent sitting in the parked car across the street. We hadn't ever officially interacted, but I had named him Donovan. They'd never really believed that I was in the habit of picking up hitchhikers across the South, that the woman at the lab had nothing to do with the man I had escorted across four states, and that neither of them had told me anything but to cause a distraction. But none of that mattered because it didn't seem like they knew he was Loki. They were certain something was off, that he likely wasn't human, but his name was never spoken, not by them and certainly not by me. So while they didn't detain me long, and the marks and bruises healed, they had kept an eye on me. I pressed skip through my mp3s, finding nothing to satisfy and distract me but never considered a switch over to the radio. Once home, I made myself a tall drink and planned to float in the pool until dark. If the world was going to end, it was as good a place as any to be.

I was considering letting my glass sink to the bottom when there was a whistle of launching fireworks and chants of “USA! USA!” from the neighbor's. The blast of cold processed air hit me as I slid open the glass door and stepped back inside. Maybe it could sink in from my skin and keep me numb. I had a feeling I was going to need some detachment.

“The threat appears to be over,” said a voice on the television when I turned it on. Footage played of vast damaged sections of New York City, people wandering dazed in the streets around debris fallen from buildings and the corpses of large creatures. “The city, and the planet, has been saved.”

Donovan didn't like it when I walked right up to his driver's side window, but still he rolled down the glass. “Ma'am?”

“Did they capture him alive?”

“Pardon? Who are you talking about.”

“Cut the shit. What happened to Loki?”

“I can't give you that sort of information,” he said without looking at me, typing frenziedly into his phone.

“I think you can. Just tell me. Please.” This conversation was undoubtedly going to earn me another stay in an interrogation room, but I needed to know.

“Loki is in custody. He will be returned to face justice in the proper jurisdiction.”

“He's going home?”

“Yes,” Donovan replied.

At least Loki got that much. “Will they kill him?”

“That's beyond our brief, but he did cause numerous deaths and destroyed large amounts of property.”

“I told him not to.”

“Do you want me to have that added to his file?” asked Donovan.

“No,” I answered. “Thank you. There is one other thing, though.” I held up the copy of _The Vampire Princess' Lover_. “Could you see if there's a way he can get this?” The agent eyed the book suspiciously. “I haven't written anything in it in invisible ink or hidden a file in the binding. Loki never read how it ended and if he's going to have some time on his hands, I think he'd like it.”

The agent pulled a plastic bag from the passenger seat and let me drop it in. “I'll see what I can do.”

“Thanks,” I said and began to walk away.

Damn it. I never get a second date.

*-*-*


End file.
